Accessing Your Account
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The first thing you need to do is learn how to access
your account. You will use FTP (file transfer protocol) to transfer
files from your computer to the server, and vice versa. You will also use
FTP to setup email redirects, autoresponders, and infobots for mail lists.
There are other tasks that you will need to use Telnet for, and and even a
few things you can do with your browser.
If you use FrontPage much of this will not apply to you.
However, at the very least, you will want to review the sections on Email
Management to learn about setting up and managing your email.
FTP Access
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the preferred method of
uploading files to your website, and vice versa.. You have unlimited
access to your account via FTP 24 hours a day. This allows you to create
and maintain your web pages on your own computer, then upload the files to
your website at your leisure.
NOTE: If you use FrontPage you should NEVER use regular FTP to
upload your files as this will damage the extensions. Please refer to
the instructions in the FrontPage section for uploading
files.
FTP is not a program, it is a
"protocol", a specific method of transferring data from one place to
another. Some online services such as AOL, CompuServe, and
Prodigy may have a built-in FTP interface. If you have a PPP (Point
to Point Protocol) Internet account, you will need an FTP program. We
strongly recommend WS_FTP for PC users, and Fetch for
Macintosh users . Please see instructions below for setting up and using
these two programs.
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WS-FTP For PC
Users In order to FTP into your website
you will need the following information which was included in your account
activation notice. · USERID
· PASSWORD · FTP HOSTNAME When you have
this information, and a copy of WS_FTP installed on your computer you will
be ready to setup a Session Profile
and FTP into your website.
1. Launch your WS-FTP program. A panel titled Session Profile
will be displayed with the WS_FTP program window behind
it.
2. Click the New button and type a
Profile name into the Profile Name entry box at the top of the panel.
This can be any name you choose, "My Website" for
example.
3. Enter the appropriate information into the following entry
boxes:
- Host Name/Address: Enter
yourdomain.com
- Host Type: Select UNIX (standard) from the
menu
- User ID: Enter your User ID
- Password: Enter your Password
- Check the Save Password box if you
wish.
- Leave the other entry fields blank.
4. Click on the Save button at the top of
the panel to save this Profile. This will eliminate the need for you to
enter this information the next time you launch WS_FTP
5. Click on the OK button at the top right
of the panel. WS_FTP will now attempt to connect to your website.
When you are connected to your home directory on the server, the Profile
panel will close.
Left Window WS_FTP will now
display a split screen. The window on the left contains the folders and
files on your own computer. Use the green arrow at the top of the window
and the scroll bars to browse your system.
Right Window
The window on the right will contain the folders and
files contained within your home directory. This is your space on the
server. This is where you will place your website will be. You
will see folders with names such as www, infobots and
access-log.
Binary vs ASCII or Auto You will see two
radio buttons below the display windows, one labeled Binary and
one labeled ASCII . There will also be a check box labeled
Auto. If you select Auto WS_FTP will automatically
apply the correct setting, either Binary or ASCII to the
document you are transferring. If you elect not to use the
Auto setting please note that it is very important to transfer
images in Binary mode. Everything else, HTML
documents, cgi scripts etc. should be transferred using ASCII
mode. If you fail to set this correctly your files may not appear as
they should.
Upload Files 1.
Double click on the www directory in the right window to open
it. This is the directory you will upload your web pages, files,
images etc. into. 2.
Highlight a file (or files) from your computer in the left
window. 3. Click the right
arrow button (->) in the center bar between the windows.
That’s it! Your file transfer is
complete.
Download Files 1.
Double click on the folder you want to download files into on your
computer to open it in the left window. 2. Highlight the file (or files) you wish to
download from your website in the right window. 3. Click the left arrow button (<-) in the
center bar between the windows. That’s it! Your
file transfer is complete.
Create A New Directory (Folder) To create a new directory on your website, click on the
MkDir button when you are inside the www directory or a
subdirectory of the www directory. You will be prompted to enter a name
for the new directory. Once you do this, the new directory will be
created.
Multiple File
Transfer To transfer more than one file at
a time, highlight the first file, then hold down the Shift key on
your keyboard to select more. All highlighted files will be transferred
when you click on the appropriate arrow button to begin the
transfer.
Disconnect When you are finished transferring your files, click on the
Close button at the bottom of the WS_FTP window. This will close
your FTP connection.
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Fetch For
Mac Users In order to FTP into your website
you will need the following information which was included in your account
activation notice.
USERID PASSWORD FTP HOSTNAME
When you have this information, and a copy of Fetch
installed on your computer, you will be ready to setup a New Connection
and FTP into your website.
1. Launch your Fetch program. 2.
Select New Connection from the File menu to create a new
Connection. 3. Enter the appropriate
information into the entry boxes as indicated below.
- HOST: Enter
yourdomain.com
- USER ID: Enter your User ID
- PASSWORD: Enter your Password
- DIRECTORY: Leave this entry field blank for
now.
4. Click on the OK button to connect to your
website on the server. When you are connected the New
Connection panel will close, and the main Fetch window will pop
up.
Bookmark
Connection Once you have established
a connection you should bookmark it. This will save you the time and
trouble of entering your log in information each time you want to FTP
into your account.
1. From the Customize menu select
New Shortcut.
2. A window titled
Bookmark Editor will pop up. The Name, Host, and User ID entry
boxes will contain the information you used for your current
connection.
3. In the Type field, select
File from the pop-up menu..
4. If you would like Fetch to remember your
password type it into Password
field.
5. Under the same Customize menu,
choose Preferences, and make sure the connection you just
entered is selected as the default shortcut under the General
tab.
Your Bookmark has been created. The next time you
run Fetch your shortcut will be opened automatically. All
you'll have to do is click the OK button to establish your FTP
connection.
Binary vs.
ASCII or Auto There are three radio
buttons at the bottom of the Fetch Window. One labeled
Binary, one labeled ASCII and one labeled
Auto.
If you want Fetch to automatically select the correct
setting, either Binary or ASCII, when transferring your
files, do the following:
1. Select Auto in the Fetch window. 2. Select Preferences, then the Upload
tab. 3. Be sure that the following
settings apply: Default text
format---set to TEXT Default
non-text format—set to RAW DATA
Check "Add .bqx suffix to BinHex files"
Check "Add .bin suffix to MacBinary II files"
Uncheck "Add .txt suffix to text files" Check
"Encode and decode files and folder names" Word Wrap
Margin…72
If you elect not to use the Auto setting please note that it
is very important to transfer images in Binary mode.
Everything else, HTML documents, cgi scripts etc should be transferred
using ASCII mode. If you fail to set this correctly your files
may not appear as they should.
Fetch
Window Your main window will be
divided into two parts. On the left will be a large window which will
display the files and folders on your domain. The narrow section
on the right will contain your current Status, a File
command link and a Transfer command
link.
Upload Files 1. Double
click on the www directory in the Fetch window to open it.
This is the directory you will upload your web pages, files, images etc
into. 2. Highlight the file
(s) on your computer that you wish to transfer to your website, and
click on the Transfer command link. Or, you may also drag
the file(s) you wish to upload from your hard drive onto the Fetch
window and drop them into the appropriate directory.
Download
Files 1. Double click on the
folder you wish to download files to on your computer to open
it. 2. Highlight the file (s) on
your website in the Fetch window that you wish to transfer to your
computer, and click on the Transfer command link. Or, you
may also drag the file(s) you wish to download from the Fetch window
onto your hard drive and drop them into the appropriate
directory.
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Go To Top of Page Telnet Access Your Telnet account is
setup automatically for you when you open your account. Each User ID has
it’s own Telnet account. See the Fee Schedule to add User IDs to
your account. Each Telnet account has it’s own Home Directory, but will
share the same www Directories and FTP Directories.
Telnet is much like a DOS program in both use and
appearance, requiring specific typewritten commands. There are "power"
uses for Telnet, but only Advanced Users will be able to understand or
implement them. The novice user will probably not need to use Telnet very
much or very often, but some basic knowledge of it will be useful.
Connect With Telnet You will need a
Telnet program to access your Telnet account. If you use Windows, you
should have a Telnet program already on your system. To find out, do the
following:
Once you have a Telnet program, launch it, and be sure that you have
a live connection to the Internet.
- Enter yourdomain.com into the entry box for
HOST, and click on the Connect button, (exact label will
vary depending on the Telnet program you are using)
- When you are connected, you will be prompted for
your User ID (or userid or login) Type in your User ID.
- You will then be prompted for your password. Type in
your Password.
Once you are logged in you will see several lines of text scroll down
the screen. When it is finished you will see a blinking cursor after a
word that may look something like this: helius:~$ This is called the
prompt, and indicates the name of the server machine you are
logged into. That is where you will begin entering your
commands.
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General Info For Advanced Users
Some of the programs available at the shell
prompt are: mail
- a primitive email program pine - a more powerful email
program
ftp - to FTP onto other sites telnet - to telnet to other
sites pico
- an easy to use text editor vi - a not so easy to use (but
standard) text editor Joe - another easy to use text
editor
lynx - a text-based world wide web browser.
In general, it's a pretty complete POSIX
environment. You access these programs by typing in their names, and
then following commands relevant to each program. If you need help with
any of the programs, at the shell prompt, type man and the name of
the program to get instructions for that program online. If your
problem is not knowing the name of the program, try apropos subject
(i.e. apropos mail). It is important to remember that Unix is case
sensitive. "Index.htm" is not the same as "index.htm."
Note: If you experience problems with your Telnet program when
accessing the above programs you will need to make an entry in your
login directories bash_profile file. Just add the following to the last
line export TERM=vt100. This will allow you to access all shell programs
properly.
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